The first trailer for Apple TV’s upcoming documentary series Born to be Wild means well, offering hope in the face of species extinction. But it leans so hard on baby-animal cuteness and human hero worship that I found it cloying. Nowhere does it acknowledge humans as a major cause of animal extinctions. The series itself most likely does, but we’ll have to see when it airs.
The emotional six-part documentary series debuts December 19.
Born to Be Wild documentary series debuts December 19
The series, narrated by SAG Award winner Hugh Bonneville of Paddington and Downton Abbey fame, follows endangered animals raised by dedicated conservationists and prepared for life in the wild, Apple TV said. Anyway, judging by the trailer and its heartstring-plucking music and images of baby critters frolicking, you might want to get the tissues ready for this one.
Follows six remarkable journeys
Filmed over several years across five countries, the series chronicles the lives of six young endangered animals from infancy through their eventual release into their natural habitats. At its core, the documentary explores how human-animal bonds have become essential to species survival in an age of extinction threats (like, um, humans).
So the animals features in the series — each orphaned or born through conservation breeding programs — include an orphaned elephant calf, two young cheetahs, a ring-tailed lemur pup, a moon bear cub, Iberian lynx kittens and rescued African penguins. The series documents their development alongside the extraordinary efforts of the people dedicated to their care and release.
“As each animal finds its place in the world after being orphaned or born through conservation programs … Born to be Wild offers an intimate and emotional look at the powerful relationships between these animals and the heroic humans dedicated to raising, rehabilitating and re-wilding them to help save their species,” the streamer said.
Tailfeather Productions and Offspring Films co-produced the series for Apple TV+. Executive producers include Lucy van Beek, known for her work on Wild Tales from the Farm and Britain from Above. Others include Isla Robertson and IDA Award nominee Alex Williamson. They previously collaborated on Apple’s nature documentaries Earth At Night In Color and Earthsounds. Tom Payne serves as series producer.
Watch the Born to Be Wild documentary series trailer
Watch documentaries on Apple TV
All six episodes of Born to be Wild become available to stream starting December 19. It’s one of many documentaries the streamer features.
Apple TV+ is available by subscription for $12.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
In November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 580 wins and 2,787 award nominations and counting,” the service said.
Those include multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy Ted Lasso and historic Oscar Best Picture winner CODA.
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
